UPDATE 1-Twitter backtracks on block feature after users revolt

By Gerry Shih

SAN FRANCISCO Dec 12 Twitter Inc was
forced to nix a change to its "block" feature on Thursday after
attracting a wave of protest from users who said the new policy
empowered perpetrators of online abuse.

The humbling reversal on one of the most sensitive policy
issues facing the social network came as Twitter encountered
user revolt for the first time as a public company.

Under the short-lived change on Thursday, a blocked Twitter
user could view or tweet at the person who blocked him or her,
but that activity would have been rendered invisible to the
victim as if the offending account did not exist.

Under the re-instated policy, users could prevent their
harassers from following them or interacting with their tweets.
Users are also explicitly notified if they are blocked.

Before it backtracked, Twitter had said Thursday that the
change was meant to protect victims of harassment who wanted to
filter out abusive messages but feared that the act of blocking
a user would prompt retaliation.

"We have decided to revert the change after receiving
feedback from many users - we never want to introduce features
at the cost of users feeling less safe," vice president of
product Michael Sippey wrote in a blog post.

Chief Executive Dick Costolo initially sought to address the
mounting criticism by saying on Twitter that the new features
were widely requested by victims of abuse.

But many were not convinced. Within hours, the service was
flooded with angry users, including many who did not understand
the nuances of the new policy, and hundreds had signed an online
petition to reverse the change.

"New @twitter block policy is like a home security system
that instead of keeping people out puts a blindfold on YOU when
they come in," said user @edcasey.

"'Just ignore them & they'll stop' is a dangerous thing to
say to bullied kids & a dangerous thing to say to
stalked/harassed Twitter users," wrote @red3blog, another user.

Keeping abuse in check is a key issue for the company, which
needs to keep hold of existing users and attract hundreds of
millions of new ones to justify the stratospheric valuation that
investors have placed on its stock.

Twitter shares have risen 35 percent to $55.33 the past two
weeks on investor expectations that the company can sustain its
growth for years and mature into an internet powerhouse.

The changes were announced Thursday after the market close.

The company's swift about-face similarly drew an outpouring
of relief.

"The people have spoken and Twitter listened, thanks," said
user @samar_ismail.

The controversy highlighted Twitter's dilemma over how it
should police the freewheeling service or stamp out abuse.

Twitter, which once espoused a radically hands-off approach
to moderating content, was pressed in August to strengthen its
"report abuse" functions after two high-profile women in the
United Kingdom, feminist and journalist Caroline Criado-Perez
and Labour Party politician Stella Creasy, were subjected to a
deluge of death and rape threats.

Twitter's top executive in the U.K., Tony Wang, and Del
Harvey, the head of its trust and safety team, issued personal
apologies to the women after revising Twitter's rules.

Twitter said Thursday that the company's policies were still
evolving and that the block feature remained problematic because
some users were fearful that their harassers would be notified
when they become blocked.

"Moving forward, we will continue to explore features
designed to protect users from abuse and prevent retaliation,"
Sippey, the Twitter executive, wrote.

"We've built Twitter to help you create and share ideas and
information instantly, without barriers. That vision must
coexist with keeping users safe on the platform."

The backlash was a rare event for a company that for the
most part has been hailed for championing its users, who now
number more than 250 million worldwide.

Although Twitter has made unpopular design tweaks, it has
maintained a better policy record than social media rival
Facebook Inc, which has repeatedly upset users with
abrupt changes to its privacy policies.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Dec 9 U.S. President-elect
Donald Trump on Friday was expected to name a senior Goldman
Sachs banker to coordinate economic policy across his
administration, turning again to Wall Street for expertise in
managing the world's largest economy.

Dec 9 Coca-Cola Co said on Friday that
Muhtar Kent would step aside as chief executive next year and be
replaced by James Quincey, a company veteran credited with
several recent changes to help the company cut its dependence on
sugary drinks.

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